Part Nineteen

December 20, 2004

Hyperion Hotel

3.51pm

Milk stirred into the steaming coffee, Riley sighed at the
thought of just a few hours to call his own, time for him to do
his own thing. Wesley and Joyce were reading through Drusilla's
ramblings. Now that the ex-Watcher was feeling better, both were
sitting at the front desk in case the phone rang. Doyle was
upstairs sleeping again, his stamina and general wellbeing still
at a low level after all he had gone through, thankfully the
doctor had pronounced him relatively healthy despite everything.
Graham was at the nearby gym for the next few hours, the
afternoon was his free time and tomorrow, it would be Riley's
turn. And Angel, well apparently the vampire was sniffing his
neck....

Letting go of the teaspoon, the tall blond tried not to jump as
he realised what the vampire was doing. Slowly, Riley turned to
face his friend who was only inches away. A scowl decorating
his face, Riley asked the most obvious question.

"What are you doing? Did you just *sniff* me?"

When his question got no reply, the ex-soldier felt his
heart rate increase by a few beats, suddenly wary as Angel gave
him a slight smirk. Angel didn't smirk, sure, he smiled but he
never ever smirked.

"How long have you been standing there?"

Angel didn't answer, his smirk growing larger.

Shit! This was creepy...Ever since Angel and Doyle had returned
from Lancaster County, the vampire hadn't spoken to anyone, not
even his ex-boyfriend. Something that was of a concern to them
all, especially as they knew how worried the brunette was about
Wes. No, he had avoided everyone, locking himself in his room.
Wesley had told everyone to leave the vampire be, assuming that
Angel just wanted to brood for a while before talking about the
hospital incident. Riley had been uneasy as had Graham but
after Doyle had agreed with Wes, the blond had gone along with
it. This was the first morning that Angel had come down from his
room. As Angel's smirk grew into a wide smile, Riley felt a
flicker of annoyance.

"Angel...w..what are you doing....? Get off me..Ahhhh!"

Faster than he would have thought possible, Riley found himself
spun around and pinned to the kitchen bench. Struggling to free
his arms from behind his back, the blond attempted to kick
backwards at the vampire standing like a solid wall behind him.
The ex-soldier squawked with pain as Angel rammed the blond's
lower abdomen into the bench, just managing to bruise Riley's
genitals on the sharp corner. With deep breaths as he tried to
will the pain away, the struggling man wheezed out another
question as to what Angel was doing, getting his legs kicked out
so that the vampire was squarely in between them as an answer.
Jesus, Riley had gone against countless vampires in his time,
even Angel once, but he couldn't ever remember the brunette
being this strong.

"W..wwwhhhhattt..the *fuck*!"

Riley hoped to god he wasn't really feeling what he thought he
was. Wrists wrenched in a iron grip behind his neck, his head
was forced onto the counter by Angel's solid weight as he felt
the vampire draping himself over the taller blond's back. That
wasn't what was scaring Riley. It was the fact that Angel was
grinding and rubbing himself against the human's buttocks,
snarling filling the quiet kitchen. Riley was too shocked to
even consider yelling for someone to help him Even if he did,
there was only Joyce and Wesley who would be able to.

His next attempt at a question resulted in Angel shifting his
weight slightly, enabling the blond to raise his head a few
inches. Just as he was taking a breath to start yelling at the
vampire, Riley groaned as his head was slammed back down onto
the counter, his neck twisting as his forehead connected with
the cool counter. Pain flared down the right side of his neck
and down deep into his spine as Angel started to grind harder
into him, the vampire's snarling growing louder. Riley had all
the breath knocked out of him as the brunette pulled him away
from the bench only to make sure the corner of the bench mashed
into his genitals again. The blond pushed his pelvis back into
the vampire in a desperate effort to make the other man back off
only to almost instantly snap his hips forward as he received a
better feel of the hard organ grinding against him.

"G..g.get o.offfff mmeee"

Choking on his words as a solid elbow connected with his ribs,
Riley continued to struggle as Angel smacked his head into the
kitchen counter again, causing his neck to seize up. He
couldn't believe this was happening. How could something like
this happen to him and most importantly...Why? He frantically
pulled at his wrists as he felt one of Angel's large hands
leave,
only to have the vampire suddenly bury his face in the crook of
Riley's neck.

"WE...."

Before he had even gotten half the name out, Riley felt two
pinpricks at his neck causing him to cease his struggling. He
was terrified. He knew that he wasn't dealing with his friend
anymore, he was dealing with a seriously wacked Master Vampire.
One that had a soul. Riley knew that Angel had his soul, Hell,
he had been one of the chief organisers of the party they had
held when it had been revealed the binding spell had been
successful. So, why was Angel doing this? Surely, Angel
couldn't be horny? And if he was, why was he forcing himself
onto Riley whom the vampire knew was straight? His fear
increased a notch as he realised that the brunette was fast
ripping a large hole in the back of his pants and boxers with
one hand, the other still keeping his wrists in position over
his neck via a hard cool grip on a few fingers on each hand. As
the cool air greeted his buttocks through the newly torn hole in
his pants, Riley sucked his breath in as Angel simultaneously
raked his fangs along his neck and rubbed a hard length against
his bare skin. In an odd thought, Riley wondered when Angel had
found the time to undo his own pants.

"Nonononononononono"

Riley wasn't sure what was scaring him the most, the hard flesh
rubbing between his buttocks or the feel of one of Angels fangs
breaking the skin on his neck. With every fibre of his being,
the blond ex-soldier pleaded with the PTB for someone to disturb
the vampire. The fangs withdrew from his neck for a moment, a
tongue roughly lapping at the tiny pinpricks until they were
replaced once more, the teeth tracing an unknown pattern on his
sweaty skin. Riley could feel Angel's cock leaking pre-cum
between his cheeks, the rubbing massaging it into his skin. In
a desperate attempt to free himself, the taller blond heaved
himself backwards, managing to push the heavier man back a step
before he found himself having his head continually beaten into
the counter. As the stars threatened to overwhelm him, Riley
noted the bench surface was denting beneath the solid blows of
his forehead. Still, Angel hadn't said one word to him.

"Gasp...P..p.pleeaassse Angel?"

Once again his stomach was crushed into the bench as the
growling and snarling reached a new crescendo. Suddenly, the
vampire ceased his rubbing against Riley, something that the
younger man was thankful for until he realised that his anus and
upper thighs were being steadily coated in a cool liquid.
Nausea rose from deep within him as a chill burrowed deep into
his bones. Riley knew that Angel was cumming on him, he could
feel the vampire's cool shaft pulsing and twitching as it lay
nestled between his buttock cheeks. Another few grinds against
him, three more neck jarring smacks of his head into the already
dented bench and Riley found himself being dragged by his hair
and wrists through the corridor that led from the kitchen to the
main foyer. He was forced to let Angel take him to the front
desk, the stars that were swimming in his head dazing him into
complete submission.

As he was dumped onto the hard floor, he was dimly aware of
Joyce and Wesley both screaming at Angel, Wesley demanding to
know what the vampire had just done with Joyce shrieking the
words clearly. He couldn't really concentrate on the words,
amazed to find that his nose was bleeding.

"MINE"

At the roar that tore through the Hyperion's lobby, Riley found
himself picked up and shaken like a rag doll, the screams of Wes
and Joyce increasing in pitch and volume. Head snapping back
and forth loosely, the ex-soldier gurgled in protest as a
trickle of blood found its way down the back of his throat.
Flung to one side, Riley stopped his slide across the floor just
in time to see Wesley get manhandled up the main steps towards
the first floor by a still snarling gamefaced vampire. As he
watched a crying Joyce hurry towards him, Riley wondered if
Angel had done up his zipper after the brunette had finished
with him.

Part Twenty

December 21, 2004

Hyperion Hotel

6.17am

With a groan, the battered man allowed himself to recognise the
fact that he was now conscious. Eyes still closed, Wesley lay
as
quietly as possible, not wanting to wake the vampire that was
plastered to his back, one cool arm draped over the warm side of
the human male. How did Wesley know Angel was still asleep?
Simple, the larger brunette wasn't fucking him again.

Daring to open his eyes just a smidgen, the weary ex-Watcher
gingerly lifted a hand to trace a finger over the fang marks
that decorated one side of his neck, just below his right ear.
Nowhere subtle of course like the crook of his elbow or his
inner thigh. No, Angel had wanted everyone to be able to see
just who Wesley now officially belonged to. Another groan and
Wesley realised that it was the throbbing of the bite marks that
had woken him this time. At least he hadn't woken to a cock
trying to rip him in half again. A glance around the bedroom
and the bruised man registered that Angel's large solid oak
bookcase was blocking the only door that led in or out to the
vampire's bedroom.

No wonder no-one had been able to get through the door way, it
had taken both Angel and Spike to carry the bookcase up the main
stairs of the hotel when it had arrived. Angel must have moved
it across the doorway after Wes had passed out for the first
time. Had Riley, Graham or even Joyce tried to come to his
rescue? Yes..yes they had, dimly he could recall lengthy
periods of something banging on the door, something that had
caused Angel to snarl and growl all the more, effectively
blocking out most of the sound.

Shifting his legs slightly, the human bit back a scream as the
dull aching of his abused hips and backside increased, as his
muscles protested their treatment over the past hours. Wesley
knew that he wasn't as strong as he had been before the disaster
at the Magic Box, just thanking God that the vampire hadn't
decided to Claim him before his second stint in hospital. If
Angel had, Wesley seriously doubted that he would still be
alive. Unable to help himself, Wes let a smile drift across his
face at the thought.

He was Claimed.

Claimed by a Master Vampire.

The Scourge of Europe no less.

He was Angel's Consort.

And it had been one of the most painful things he had ever gone
through. Angel had fucked him hard before but never had he kept
up the punishing speed, the force of the thrusting and amazingly
quick recovery time like he had during the initial Claim. Wesley
knew that there was blood coating his thighs and buttocks, he
could feel it flaking off him as he attempted to get up, gently
moving Angel's cool limb. Head spinning at the movement, the
painfully thin man stopped moving as he felt himself tear
inside, a wave of pain flowing through his body. With a barely
disguised whimper, Wesley lay back down on the blood and cum
stained sheets. He knew that Angel would get him to a doctor if
Wes needed to go. Wes just wasn't sure if he *did* need one,
everything hurt so much.

He was proud that he was Claimed but he wished that it hadn't
been at Riley's expense. God only knew what sort of condition
the ex-soldier was in at the moment. Riley probably had
concussion at least, if taller blond's steadily purpling
forehead
had been anything to go by. His teeth and nose were another
matter entirely. Both he and Joyce had been shocked when a
snarling and gamefaced Angel had suddenly appeared in front
of them, Angel just saying one word while shaking the barely
conscious younger human. It had been a word that had frightened
yet excited Wesley in an instant. That one word had made it
patently obvious to the ex-Watcher just what had happened
between Riley and Angel.

Although Angel had his soul, he was still a vampire and the
demon instinct was strong and with Angel under such stress, the
urge to warn off other possible challenges to what the vampire
considered his belongings was overwhelmingly strong. Wesley
knew that Angel would have felt betrayed by Riley removing
Wesley from the hospital, going against the vampire's direct
orders. Never had he ever taken it into consideration that
Angel had felt that his Alpha male status had been under threat
and more importantly, his belongings. And he had known from the
first time he had slept with Angel that the vampire considered
Wesley his 'property', something that Wesley certainly hadn't
objected to in the least.

Normally, Angel would have possibly found a way to deal with the
problem logically, but with Riley being another Alpha male
himself, and even though Riley naturally deferred to Angel most
of the time, the vampire had obviously felt the need to display
and re-assert his dominance over Riley. As like some animals and
nearly every demon species he knew, the vampire had beaten and
then ejaculated upon Riley, forever marking the blond as a Beta
to Angel's Alpha. Neither he or Joyce had been unable to miss
the
gaping hole in the barely conscious males light wool slacks, the

purpose for the opening only all too clear to them both. Wesley
just hoped that Angel hadn't gone all the way and raped the
taller blond. However, given the display of dominance that
Wesley himself had received, the possibility was only too real.

And what a display that had been as well. Wesley had been
dragged up the stairs despite his best efforts to show Angel
that he was going willingly. Clothes ripped off and torn into
shreds, the smaller man had been scrubbed almost raw as the
vampire had cleaned him while being held under the shower. Once
the brunette had been satisfied that Wesley was clean,
certainly, he had been to the point of almost sobbing, the
vicious scrubbing had been that painful, the vampire had sniffed
and snuffled at him until Angel could no longer detect any other
scent than just Wesley's. Barely two steps had been taken into
the main bedroom before the dripping wet man had been shoved to
the ground, onto his stomach. Yanked back by his hair into a
hands and knees position, Wesley had been unable to stop the
shivers of fear coursing through his body as a cool hand had
rested for a moment on his trembling shoulder. That gentle
touch had been all the tenderness he had received from that time
on.

Buttocks spread an instant later, he had howled in agony as he
was rammed into dry, his unprepared muscles forced wide beyond
their capacity. Wesley hadn't enjoyed it, he had shrieked and
tried his best to tell Angel to go slower, to let him adjust
before continuing. His strangled pleading had gone unheard by
the snarling vampire who had continued to pump in and out of the
shivering human as hard as the weaker life form could handle.
No, Wesley hadn't enjoyed it nor had he liked it all the times
that had followed. Angel had cum over his body in certain
points, some the Watcher could understand like his groin, his
armpits and his face but other areas like the back of his knees
and the crook of his elbows, Wesley couldn't understand the
reason for it. Wesley doubted Angel understood it either, pure
instinct had driven the vampire to claim the human as his.

Wesley had been almost to the point of passing out again after
what had been the sixth time when Angel had turned him onto his
back, taking him for the first time while looking at his face.
The ex-Watcher had at first been under the mistaken impression
that Angel was going to take it slowly, indeed the vampire had
entered him carefully enough. It was only when Angel had sunk
his fangs into his neck that Wesley realised that the position
was easier for the vampire to reach his desired position on
Wesley's neck.

Almost flinching from a cool hand running down his still
prominent ribs, the cold human was in the process of steeling
himself for another vicious fuck when he found Angel tenderly
stoking the livid fang marks on his neck. Still too wary to
relax into the caring gesture, Wesley wondered what was going to
happen next. Having been a Watcher, Wesley had read all about
the ritual for claiming a Consort and had known that the ritual
was brutal, with the sex being akin to rape. It was only now
that he had gone through it that he truly understood how brutal,
yet ultimately thrilling it was. He ached from head to foot and
he was sure that he wouldn't be leaving the bedroom for a few
days at least, not without help anyway.

"Mine"

With that, Wesley felt the comforter being wrapped around him as
Angel took note of his shivering. Even though he was proud and
excited to be a consort to his lover, there was still going to
be the problem of an injured Riley. Riley who had to be made to
understand that Angel had had no choice in the instincts that
ruled his very existence. Unfortunately, Wesley wasn't sure
that the ex-solider would ever understand why Angel had
assaulted
him. Still, it was a matter to be dealt with later. Snuggling
into the thick warm material, Wesley felt himself freeze in
horror as a thought suddenly struck him.

Joyce.

She would have had no choice but to echo his screams and
pleadings for as long as she had stayed within the 'voice'
radius to Wesley. His elation deflating as he imagined just how
traumatised the poor woman was, he took advantage of her gift.
Whispering as softly as he could, he garbled out sentences that
were designed to hopefully soothe the older woman. He whispered
that he was a bit sore but ultimately alright, told her not to
worry about him and that Angel would take care of him for the
next few days. Wesley told Joyce that none of them were to
approach Angel in any way until he could explain what had
happened, and certainly under no circumstances was anybody to
come near him either, knowing that the vampires need to display
dominance and keep his personal belongings close would last for
a few more days. If Riley or even Graham confronted Angel or
tried to touch or talk to Wesley himself, it could very possibly
set the whole process into action again, something that Wesley
really didn't want to go through twice in one week. In a barely
heard voice, he asked Joyce to tell Riley that he was sorry and
that it had been out of his control.

Most of all, he apologised to Joyce for her having to hear what
had gone on.

Part Twenty-One

January 3, 2005

Hyperion Hotel, Library.

11.47am

"Mummy, the sound will flow through you. London Bridge will be
heard again. Legacy of the Tower will ring true and be forged by
two. The green from the Isle of Erin was lost and will never
again appear nor the red of the blue. The Sight was saved but
is lost in the fields of memory. The twins of darkness are to
reside in the halls of the ones who seek.

The star that is yet to be born is a mummy, the twins of
darkness with her. Water surrounds them, ice flowing into the
winter sea. The lonely tree is soon to be happy, love
surrounding her after the endless winter, her leaves of red
flowing like a river. Meow. Daddy? The man who isn't will
wander the pretty river again, joy radiating from him for all
eternity.

The one with no voice will speak of might things to come, his
voice shall echo through these hallways soon. The Miller's son
shall be companion to the advocate until both wither with love,
her champion. A golden man once entangled with fates Chosen
will offer sanctuary to all who are in need, refuge from all
dimensions apart from this earth's planes. His heart needed
to be broken so that compassion would temper the desire to see
two colours, a path already started but yet to be finished.

The prince will be comforted and protected for all time by one
who has fallen from the mighty but shall receive his redemption
through these actions, the Twilight ruling all and keeping the
prince from any other harm. The soul of blood will return,
bringing chaos and ruin to all it touches. This cannot be
allowed to happen. The sight and voice will find the path to
deny the wolf. The echoes of ones mind is where the prince can
be found, just follow the whispering corridors. The displaced
ones will be taken by the brothers of Christ, into the arms of
protection. Fear not, harm will not come to them again if they
go by choice."

Thanking Graham for reading out the first section of what was
now known as Dru's Destinies, Angel turned his attention to his
newly marked Consort, pride swelling as it did each time he saw
the other man.

"So, tell us what you think Dru was on about?"

With a nod at Angel, Wesley gathered up the writings on
Drusilla’s last predictions. Since being let out of his lover’s
bedroom only a week and a half ago, Wesley and Joyce had spent
most of their time going over the vampiress' ramblings. They
hadn't had any progress until a random comment from a still
sickly Doyle. He had made reference to his eyes while trying
to re-learn the position of furniture in the hotel's kitchen. A
throwaway remark of how he would never be able to spook little
kids with his red eyes again. Joyce had asked what he had meant
by that, stating that she knew for a fact that his eyes had been
green.

Wesley himself, hadn't taken much notice of the conversation
until Doyle had told the older woman that when his demon half
used emerge fully, his eyes would change to red as his body
turned blue and spiked out. It had taken only a moment for the
ex-watcher to make sense of some of what Drusilla had written.
Papers shuffled once again, the thin man cleared his throat, an
action that was matched by Joyce.

"Well, surprisingly enough, once Joyce and I made sense of one
bit, the rest was quite easy. Be warned though, we still
haven't made sense of everything but hopefully, in time, we soon
will."

At the collective nod, Wesley forged ahead with his opinion.

"The first few lines are about Joyce and I. Clearly, we are
meant to be working together in this but the reference about the
Tower of London is remarkable. One of my distant relatives
about two centuries ago was rumoured to have been born out of
wedlock in the Tower. Joyce has told me that her heritage is
English as well, one of her own relatives was shipped over here
on the first or second fleet. He was also apparently from
London but what the connection is with the Bridge, we really are
not sure yet."

Sip taken from his cooling cup of Earl Grey, both Wesley and
Joyce took a breath as they prepared to continue.

"The next bit refers to Doyle. Ireland is sometimes referred to
as the Isle of Erin, I'm surprised that Angel didn't click onto
that bit himself. It tells of the loss of Doyle’s eyes, in both
his human form and his demon form. Also, how he was found by
the Amish in one of their fields. 'Lost in the field of
memory'. We also know that the visions from the PTB are still
hitting with full force, obviously the 'Sight' that Drusilla
alludes to. The twins of darkness are more than likely Aiesha
and Gonturan, after all they are dark skinned. I honestly don't
know what the halls are though. It's more than likely that they
are with Cordelia as we all know that before this happened, she
was hell bent on being Hollywood's newest star. She is the
star that is yet to be born. Somewhere cold with lots of snow
and ice, where though is again another question entirely, the
same with Willow. 'The lonely tree.'"

Another sip of now cold tea and the bespectacled man continued,
only to hastily apologise to Joyce who was spluttering words as
she tried to drink some of her coffee. A few snickers went
around the library as Wesley dramatically clapped a hand over
his mouth until Joyce had managed to finish her beverage. On
Joyce's left, Graham leant over and offered the coffee
splattered woman a few tissues from the box resting on the lamp
table beside him. At the older woman's watery hiccups, the
ex-soldier allowed his smile to grow broader. A glance at Riley
to Graham's own left and the shorter man was thankful for what
had occurred over a week ago.

Graham had been once again reassuring Joyce that Wesley was
alright being left alone with Angel, after all, the ex-watcher
had managed to tell Joyce that he was pretty much ok, when Riley
had come back from his dentist appointment to fix his chipped
front teeth. They had been about to sit down to the dinner the
worried woman had made when Angel and Wesley had made an
appearance. There had been silence for a minute and then all
hell had exploded. Graham had found himself trying to restrain
Riley from attacking Angel while Wesley had been trying to
placate a snarling vampire, Joyce shrieking at them both to cut
it out in-between speaking as Wesley. The voice of reason had
been Doyle. He had felt his way from the second floor and to
the kitchen without tripping down the steps as he had done on a
few previous occasions.

Within five minutes, the short Irishman had had them all sitting
at the table and taking turns at telling everybody what was
pissing them off.

Angel's drug problem had been brought up as had the results of
the analysis. It had been revealed that the tablets and vials
were a mix of sedatives and bovine hormones. Bull hormones to
be precise. Something that had more than likely attributed to
Angels stress levels even if they had at first helped him.
Wesley had put it down to the vampire's liver not being able to
process the extra chemicals as a 'live' being or animal would
have been able to do, thus them staying in the body for longer
than normal.

Riley had brought up the episode of Angel assaulting him,
everyone including Angel wincing at the barely disguised disgust
in the man's voice. After a lengthy screaming match and both
the vampire and enraged human having to be restrained again,
Riley had eventually conceded that Angel could have done a
lot worse to him. Riley had told Angel that he could understand
why the brunette had felt the need to re-assert himself as the
Alpha but needed time to get over the way it had been done and
eventually forgive the vampire, something that had left Angel
visibly upset.

Angel himself had apologized to Joyce for terrorizing her via
Wesley. She too had told Angel that it would take time for her
to forgive him, more for the fact that the vampire hadn't seen
fit to tell them that everything was alright with Wesley.
Instead, he had left the four friends to worry themselves sick
about Wesley's state of health, let alone the bigger brunettes
mood. She had told everyone about how stressed she was herself,
not only had she lost her only daughter, been forced to sell her
house and business, she now had a talent that she didn't know
how to control. She also told the group of how hard it was to be
the only woman living in the hotel, there was no-one of her own
age group or sex to discuss 'normal' woman things with.

Wesley had piped up then, telling them all of the ritual he and
Angel had completed while locked in the vampires bedroom. Once
again silence had drifted down upon the kitchen until Joyce had
given the two men her congratulations, everyone including a
still pissed off Riley had followed. The ex-watcher had also
apologized again for his actions in the previous months, sorry
that he had been thinking only of himself. Both he and Doyle
had expressed how bitter they felt over their mutilations, Riley
and Graham agreeing with the two other men.

Doyle had informed the vampire and Wesley of the daily visions
of Spike, telling the group that the PTB wanted the bleached
blond found as soon as possible and that they really didn't have
any time to waste on 'fucking rituals' if the PTB were
panicking. The smaller ex-soldier had sat quietly through the
whole discussion right until the early hours of the following
morning, relieved to see the group grow a little stronger now
that everybody had gotten what was worrying them off their
chests. The splintered parts of the group starting to knit
together again. He had thought that he was selfish. He had been
a little pleased that Joyce had turned to him for support and
comfort once she had started voicing Wesley's screams and
pleadings, Riley thankfully in hospital being treated for mild
concussion and broken nose. Truly, it had been horrifying to
learn what the thinner man had gone through. On more than one
occasion, both he and Joyce had thought that Angel was just
about to kill his ex-lover, the voiced agony had been that
frightening.

He couldn't deny that he liked the way Joyce had snuggled into
him, trying to catch sleep every time Wesley had lapsed into
silence. God only knew how he would have coped with it if he
had been in the older woman's position. Things were still raw
after the yelling session but he was hoping that they would
settle down soon, especially with Joyce. He wanted to ask her
out to the movies, maybe start the ball rolling on a possible
relationship. That is if she would have time in-between casting
sessions with Wesley. After the long discussion, once everybody
had calmed down a little, it had been decided that they were all
going to start pulling their weight.

The half demon was going to take over for Joyce in the office,
getting training from David Nabbit on how to work a computer for
the blind. The other man had already agreed to provide the
agency with a voice computer with a Braille keyboard, David just
happy to be involved with 'saving the world' no matter how small
his part in it was. David had already started teaching Doyle
Braille, the billionaire informing them that his father had
been blind so he was pretty familiar with it all, his
inspiration for developing a computer for the visually impaired.

Angel had agreed to dispose of his hidden drugs, flushing the
tablets down the toilet and emptying the vials down the sink in
front of everybody while Riley quietly told Doyle what was
happening. The vampire promised never to touch them again,
embarrassed to find himself agreeing to therapy with Dr Sawyer.
Technically, she wasn't a therapist but so far, Evangeline
Sawyer hadn't been threatened or killed off even after treating
a still colourful Doyle. Everyone was pretty sure that their
mysterious employer was allowing the good doctor to live just in
case one of their numbers were seriously injured and needed a
doctor in the 'know' about certain things. Joyce had agreed to
start training properly with Wesley, even if it was found that
she couldn't get past the basics of spell casting. Riley and
even Graham had decided to re-train for automatic weapons using
their opposite hands.

All in all, a lot of issues had been cleared up that night and
Graham couldn't help thinking that it was about time. He
acknowledged that he was frustrated by the lack of progress in
finding the still missing friends as well as being wary of
Doyle’s visions of Spike. If, as Doyle was insisting, the PTB
were panicking about them not finding the bleached vampire soon,

then things were seriously wrong somewhere. Things that Graham
knew from experience, couldn't be good for them.

Jerking out of his Angel-like broodiness, the ex-soldier
listened as Wesley/Joyce informed the group of what they thought
Drusilla's Destinies meant. Willow was thought to find love
again after a lengthy period of despair, her hair growing long,
'flowing like a river.' 'The man who isn't' was thought to
refer to Christopher, the words indicating that the boy/man
would live at the hotel again one day and be happy to do so. It
was a thought that had them smiling, Christopher was a favourite
with them all. It was also possible that the words referred to
Spike, a demon in a man’s form. 'The one with no voice'
obviously referred to Wesley himself, his voice was already
being heard in the hotel via Joyce.

With a suddenly serious expression, Graham tensed as he was
referred to. His surname was Miller so everyone was presuming
he was the 'Miller's son' that Dru had talked about. He was
apparently going to find love and be a champion to a woman who
was yet to be named. As Wesley continued to dissect the
vampire's words, the smaller soldier found himself trying to
hide a grin as he tried to avoid looking at Joyce.

"Well, the 'Miller's son' is obviously Graham. Lucky you, *you*
get to find love with the advocate, a woman and be her
'champion'. In other words, you will defend this woman with
your life until you both die or at least grow old. Umm, just
bear in mind that this is not a proven theory yet, ok? Good.
The advocate is Joyce. Yes. An advocate is someone who speaks
for those who are unable to speak for themselves and by what
Joyce is doing at the moment, I think it's pretty clear that she
is the one Drusilla is referring to."

There was a moment’s silence as everyone absorbed the new
information. Still trying to hide his cautious delight, Graham
risked a quick glance at the older woman only to find that she
was already giving him a smile. Joyce was unable to hide a
giggle as the younger man gave her a wink, Angel and Riley both
raising their eyebrows at the sound while Wesley and Doyle
smiled quietly. Graham found himself suddenly eager to give his
input to the conversation.

"I..IlikeJoycealotsothisisgreatasfarasI'mconcerned."

"Uhhh, I don't think any of us understood what you just said
Graham but I think that we all get the jist of it and I for one,
think that you two will make a great couple should you both
choose to explore *that* avenue in your relationship."

Joyce knew that she was bright red from what Wesley had just
said and from looking at Graham and Riley, she could see that
she wasn't the only one. Angel just sat next to Wesley looking
slightly aghast at what his lover had just uttered, Doyle
grinning widely while he looked towards the couch that Joyce and
Graham were sitting on. Fighting the urge to start giggling like
a schoolgirl, she almost slapped herself as she found her mind
throwing visions of a naked muscle bound soldier to the
forefront of her thoughts. Distracting herself with a bite of
an almond wafer, the older woman almost choked as she wondered
if the ex-soldier was well hung. As Graham rubbed her back,
Joyce waved madly at Wesley in an effort to tell him not to
speak for a minute or two, sure that if he spoke, she would just
continue to cough and splutter all the more. Eventually, after
a few sips of the cool water from Wesley's glass, she huskily
told Wesley that he could continue.

"Sorry, it really wasn't meant to turn out like that....I meant
to say it with just a tad more subtlety. It's Angel's fault,
his lack of it has rubbed off on me. What? Stop looking at me
like that, you know it's true!"

Not even bothering to smother his laughter, Doyle snickered at
the thought of what the brunette vampire's face looked like,
feeling the ever present sadness surge for a moment before it
calmed slightly. He concentrated on Joyce's voice as Wes
continued with Drusilla's last words. Idly, he wondered if
either of them had noticed that they were now breathing together

in the same pattern.

"Where was I? Oh yes. Now, 'the golden man' is more than
likely Riley as he was in a relationship with Buffy whom we all
know was the 'Chosen'. I'm not really sure about this part but
from the looks of it, you are going to start a halfway house or
a refuge centre for aliens/demons/people maybe even animals from
other places than on this planet. I'm assuming that in the
Military, you were trained to follow orders regardless of
personal feelings or political leanings. Basically only seeing
the black and white of the world, the 'two colours'. When you
started seeing Buffy and left the Initiative, you started seeing
the grey that fills civilian life, something that you are
apparently not yet finished discovering. Your mind is to be
opened up to yet more than you can currently imagine."

"Yeah, and my heart was broken when Buffy died...still is."

Awkwardness filled the room as Joyce vacated the couch to go and
sit down on the arm of Riley's chair, rubbing the taller blonds
arm in a soothing manner. A few rubs at his eyes, Riley cursed
as his hand knocked the tape holding his broken nose into place.
Shooting a glare at the brunette vampire opposite him, the
ex-soldier was grimly satisfied as Angel squirmed a little in
embarrassment even if he did keep eye contact until Riley
dropped his gaze. He was the Beta, he knew that. His place had
been painfully re-enforced and he knew that he had gotten off
lightly as well.

"I'm sorry Riley..Joyce. Ah, 'the prince' I think is Xander and
from what I can decipher, Spike will once again be looking after
him and even get his 'redemption' from these actions. What
Spikes actual redemption will be is really anybody's guess. We
all know that Angel's is to be given human life again, I mean,
it *is* possible that Spike will also be given human life.
The 'soul of blood' is something I have no idea about....anybody
else know? No...no? Ok, the rest of it, I have no idea about
either except for the 'displaced ones'. The kidnapped boys will
more than likely be going to stay at the same Christian Hostel
that Jason was staying with. 'The brothers of Christ.'"

"Ok, anybody disagree with that...no? Bloody Hell, thank Christ
for that! I'm exhausted!"

At Wesley's cue, Graham read out the last of Drusilla's
Destiny's, skipping the part about Dru's own role in the whole
destiny game.

"This is your war Angel. The final battle for your redemption.
Do not fail, you will not get a second chance and hell will be
taking you back. Soul and all. Your legacy shall be bred from
the missing. Fail in your mission and there shall be none to
replace you should you fall. Many will be denied their full
achievements should that occur. The fate of millions rests on
the outcome of this war. Do you understand?

The one you hate so much was also pre-destined to be born
soulless. Be warned, if he should regain his soul, Angelus will
be insignificant to what will occur if he should be loosened
upon the world."

Once again, Wesley/Joyce took up with the translating of the
vampiress' words.

"Right, the first bit is pretty self-explanatory. If you fail
Angel, you get sent back to hell, no second chance and no two
hundred dollars and you don't get to pass 'Go'. What?
Monopoly..never mind Angel, I'll explain it later. The next bit
is a bit iffy…I'm not sure about this really. From what I can
gather, everyone who is missing will have children who will then

continue on with Angel's work once he is gone. Of course, if he
fails to find everyone, then quite possibly, a person who has an
upcoming major role to play in the future might never be born
thus condemning the world. Our legacy."

"Cordy wants four kids...I'll be bloody happy with one.
Christopher as well....if…when we find him. Gonna twaddle the
papers, make him ours legally if he wants. Shit! What am I even
going on about? Good fucking chance that he won't be a child
anymore even if he does come back to the hotel?"

"Doyle, I'm sure that Christopher will be more than happy to be
included in your family once we get everybody back. Even if he
isn't in child form anymore, you can always start a new
relationship as equals...you know?"

Hand rubbed over his face, the half demon knew that he was
wilting fast and needed to go back to bed for a few more hours
sleep even if he didn't want to. What he really wanted was to
go out into the daytime and feel the sun on his skin but he
couldn't until his demon side receded totally and he was no
longer a greeny-blue shade. He refused to contemplate on what
Cordelia would think of his eyes let alone if he remained blue.
Finger just skimming over his destroyed eyes, he flinched
inwardly as he took in the hideous damage he felt from just that
one moment of contact.

"Thanks Angel but I'm kinda attached to Christopher as a kid.
Cordy and me...we were gonna start trying for a kid of our own
on the wedding night...What's the next bit Wes?"

"Mmmm, well...we are all fond of Christopher as a child but we
*do* have to take into account that when we get him back, he may
not be a child both physically and mentally but that is
something to deal with when we find him. Now, the one Angel
hates so much is more than likely Spike, he was re-born as
soulless once he was turned by Angelus. And Spike is, who the
PTB is having kittens over, what is really worrying me. It's
that I can't imagine anybody worse than Angelus. To have the
Oracles state that if Spike regains his soul, that The Scourge
of Europe will be insignificant compared to a souled William....
is just beyond imagination. Angel, what do you know of Spikes
life before you turned him?"

"Nothing. Like I told you before, I just grabbed him, took him
home and turned him. I've never sat down and had a conversation
with him about his life before being turned and lets face it, we
all know how much he lies...yes, I know that *one* of his lies
proved to be real but that doesn't mean everything out of his
mouth is the truth."

"So, you just grabbed him off the street? Just like that? But,
he's your Childe...aren't Sires supposed to stalk their intended
Childer for weeks, months even, learning everything they can of
their victims lives before finally doing it?"

"Yeah Doyle, that is the done thing but Spike was a special case
and I didn't have time to do dither around with questions. I
saw, I wanted, I turned. All I know is that I saw him in a poor
section of London in the early hours of the morning, close to
dawn actually. He was coming out of a hovel wearing what looked
like to me, a baker’s uniform. I think that maybe he was an
apprentice but I could be wrong, he would have been the oldest
apprentice in London."

"It might not be Spike...Angel is there anyone else that you
*really* hate?"

"Is there some way to prevent a person from cursing Spike with a
soul?"

"What are the Twilight instructions that Drusilla mentioned?"

"Why did you just grab Spike...why was he a special case?"

Angel groaned aloud as the questions were fired at him almost
simultaneously from all corners of the library. Hands held up
in placating gesture, the suddenly weary vampire suggested
another round of tea and coffee before he answered the
questions. As he watched Riley and Wesley leave the library to
venture down to the kitchen, the large brunette found himself
fighting the urge to slip into a dreamless sleep via a few
tablets or an injection. Unable to stop himself drooling a
little at the thought, Angel wiped one hand across his mouth.

January 4, 2005

Hyperion Hotel, Fourth floor, Room 404,

2.19 pm

"Right..that’s it!  The actions are perfect...you do this very
well Joyce."

Grinning slightly as she echoed Wesley's words, the older woman
acknowledged that she was terrified of stuffing the latest
challenge up.  All morning, both she and the ex-watcher had been
going over a series of complicated finger and hand gestures.
The actions were to compliment the three sentences of Nrotog
Wesley had taught the woman the day before, something that had
been quite difficult.  With Joyce speaking each word
simultaneously with Wesley, the woman had found it hard to catch
on to that languages particular speech pattern.

It had been difficult to concentrate on one voice while still
hearing the same voice completely twist the words. She really
didn't even know why she had to learn the sentences herself if
she could project the mans voice, Joyce had thought that all she
would be doing was to learn the actions and let Wesley speak
through her while she performed the finger routines.

Wesley however, was adamant that she had to learn the precise
moment of when a particular action was needed.  Apparently each
slight dip or rise of the voice required a different action, so
Joyce has practiced the words over and over until Wesley had
been satisfied that she knew them properly.  It had given the
woman a feeling of pride that she was making the thin man feel
useful again and when she thought about it, she was glad to be
doing something other than answering the phones and filing.

Breathe taken, Joyce prepared herself to run through the
sentence routine once more before attempting to combine it with
the hand routine.  Staring straight ahead as she felt her heart
rate quicken, Joyce spoke the words in a clear voice.  Her grin
got bigger as she allowed the pitch of her voice rise and fall
as the words demanded, taking a breath after each 'Z' as
Wesley had taught her.

"Ish anthum rotanu..zthor."

"Manzt granthum warlum..zthor."

"Zthor..ab'vor..ZTHOR!"

A quiet clapping beside her and Joyce found herself blushing,
happy that she had got them right. At Wesley's gesture, she
nodded that she was ready to try them together, the butterflies
in her stomach making her feel slightly sick.  It was a simple
task according to the ex-watcher.  Just encouraging a candle to
light up.  Something that almost all witches learnt during the
first few months.  At Joyce’s query of them not using Latin,
Wesley had confessed that the old language was sometimes a
little wonky in casting outcomes and that the Nrotog was the
most stable of all spell-casting languages.  He had told Joyce
that even Willow had eventually conformed to the demon language
after one too many spells had gone haywire when performed in
Latin, apparently there had been a "Thy will be done" spell that
had gone particularly nasty.  After that, the red-haired witch
had quickly lost all her romantic leanings towards the language.
It was also the same language that was used to bind Angel's
soul.

"Weady Joysh?"

"Ready Joyce?"

Another nod and Joyce hesitantly performed the gestures as she
spoke, eliciting a noise of disapproval from Wesley.  Taking a
deep breath, she performed the routine again with less
hesitation than before but still the candle refused to light. It
just stood mocking her, placed in a gaudy gold holder while
standing upon an old fold out table.  They were practicing in
the same room that had only a half hour ago, hosted a quite
obnoxious rotten cabbage smell, a remnant from Joyce's first
failure at the deodorant spell.  The older woman had confidently
used the same spell again in order to get rid of the noxious
odour, pleased to have gotten it right on the first try.

"Noth quith Joysh, wath me."

"Not quite Joyce, watch me"

Wesley slowly ran through the words and actions together, making
sure that Joyce saw just when to wave her left pinky over her
right second knuckle while taking a breath.  At her more
confident nod as she finished echoing his words, the ex-watcher
did the spell at the proper speed. Seeing that she looked as
sure of herself as she was going to currently get, he gestured
for her to do it again.  He stood to one side of the bare room
as he watched the woman take a few relaxing breaths before
attempting the spell again.

Just as she finished the last word on the third sentence, Joyce
gasped as the candle sputtered and lit for a brief second before
flickering out again.   She had done it!  She had actually done
magic all by herself.  Smiling widely, she turned to see Wesley
looking a little sad at her while he gestured for her to try
again.  Immediately her hand flew to her mouth as she realised
that the other man would never be able to perform magic again,
no matter how well the speech therapy went, her heart clenching
with sympathy for him, the flare of excitement inside of her
gone in an instant.

"No Joyce, I don't want your pity.  I am going to miss it but I
don't feel so useless now I have you to train....that's if you
want to continue?"

"I can't help it Wesley, I *do* feel sorry for you. From what
Angel has said, you were quite good at it and I'm sorry that you
can't do it anymore but I'm glad that you’re able to pass on
your knowledge.  I'm still not sure that this is the right thing
for me but I'm willing to try it.  I have to admit that I'm
proud of what I just did even if it didn't last that long."

Nodding at her, Wesley gestured at her to try it again as he
rubbed at his cold limbs, the thick jumper not really doing its
best at keeping out the cool air.  It was chilly in the fourth
floor room, the hotels heating couldn’t be turned up until
Riley, Graham and Angel had finished retrieving all the books
from the boiler room, the ex-watcher afraid for the well being
of the valuable tomes if kept too long in a hot room.  The thin
man didn't even want to think about how much damage the cold had
already done to them.  As he watched Joyce do the spell again,
he noted with a small glimmer of pride that the candle's flame
stayed lit for almost 30 seconds before dying out again.

"Wesley, isn't the flame supposed to stay lit until one of us
blows it out?  Could it be too cold up here...because, I don't
want to whinge but in a few more minutes, my fingers are going
to snap off if I try to move them again."

Blowing on her cool fingers, Joyce grinned as she watched the
younger man do the same thing.  With a good-humoured sigh, she
ran through the spell twice more with the same result as before.
 The flame only staying lit for around 30 seconds.  It wasn't
long but Joyce was proud of herself, never in a million years
had she thought that this was where life would take her.
Tears rising up, she hastily wiped them away as she found
herself wishing that Buffy was alive to see her.  Straightening
her back, she steeled herself for another go.  Determination
written over her serious face, she drew in a breathe and just as
she completed the first word, she became aware that Wesley was
standing next to her matching her actions as he too, spoke the
spell out loud.

As they came to the end of the incantation, the candle flickered
for a millisecond before the whole table and wall behind it
exploded into flames, the heat and roar of the ferocious element
terrifying them both in an instant.   Thick jumpers stripped
off, leaving both in long sleeved t-shirts. Wesley and Joyce
beat frantically at the approaching tongues of flame.  Eyes
watering as the thickening smoke crawled past them into the
deserted hallway, both humans jumped as one as the smoke alarms
started to screech.

"OUT...GOD JOYCE....LETS GO!"

Screaming the words together, Wesley and Joyce coughed their way
to the open doorway, the intense heat shimmering the air in
front of them.  In the two seconds it took them to reach the
hallway, the flames had crept forward a whole foot.  Joyce
grabbed Wesley by the upper arm, the ex-watcher wheezing and
shaking with the effort needed to breathe.  Arm around the
thinner man, the older woman sneezing as she followed the smoke
towards the main staircase.

"Wes..come on?"

"Cough..ack!"

Joyce suddenly decided that she would smother Wesley herself if
he didn't stop coughing, forcing her to do the same thing.
Reaching the stairs, she re-affirmed her grasp around the
younger mans waist and started to descend towards the main
lobby.  Halfway down the third floor stairs, they were rushed by
Graham and Angel, both taking one look at their dishevelled
states and mouthing words that no-one could hear over the
clanging fire alarms.  Angel snatched Wesley from Joyce,
flinging the still coughing man over one shoulder just as Joyce
found herself suddenly being carried down the remaining stairs
in a pair of strong arms, only a few steps behind Angel and
Wesley.

Riley was waiting for them at the bottom of the staircase, one
hand on Doyle’s upper arm as they both shouted out questions as
to what had happened.  With everyone down in the lobby, Joyce
hurriedly explained that the spell had set the room alight as
Graham put her down.  An agitated vampire listened long enough
to learn that the fire was on the fourth floor, room 404, the
corridor to the left of the main stairs.  Thrusting a wheezing
Wesley towards Joyce, he told them to get Doyle out of the hotel
while he, Riley and Graham did what they could about the fire.

"Go!  Get out of here...the sewers!"

"Angel, you can't it's too dangerous!  Riley..Graham?"

"Hey!  Why the fucking sewers?"

"Doyle...your still bloody BLUE!"

With the fire bell still ringing through the hotel, Joyce herded
the two men towards the kitchen as the vampire and two
ex-soldiers ran up the stairs towards the fourth floor. Sewer
entrance reached in the alley behind the hotel's staff entrance,
Joyce and Wesley shifted the heavy cover while Doyle waited to
be guided down the ladder.  Wesley went first, followed by Doyle

while Joyce went last.

"That's right Doyle, two more rungs and you’re on the bottom."

Breathing heavily from the excitement of the fire and the effort
of climbing down the ladder, the half demon shivered as he
missed the last rung, slipping as he landed heavily against
Wesley.

"I thought you said that after two more bloody rungs, I'd be on
the floor of the fucking sewer?"

"Sorry Doyle, I meant to say that you would be on the last
rung...I truly am sorry?"

"Mmmm."

Sharing a look between them, both Joyce and Wesley knew that the
Irishman was still adjusting to the loss of his eyes.  The
Braille lessons with David were going well so far but it was
still a huge step into a territory that Doyle really didn't want
to go.

"I hope that Angel hasn't gotten too hero like and trying to
take on the 'Towering Inferno' by himself...not to bloody
mention the gung-ho soldier boys?"

"So do I Doyle...so do I."

As the three shivering figures settled down to wait until they
could come up again, Wesley, Joyce and Doyle discussed what had
happened on the fourth floor.

               ==========================================

Four hours later....

"Oh man....I don't even want to *know* what the clean up bill is
going to be."

"You and me both Ri."

Standing in the charred shell of the destroyed hotel room, Angel
was aghast at how much damage there was.  The room in which the
fire had started, was basically one big charcoal box.  On either
side, the adjoining rooms weren't much better, the remaining
paint and wallpaper was blackened and bubbled from the heat and
smoke.  The much whinged about threadbare carpet was no longer
an issue, a victim of the massive amounts of water and foam, the

firemen had pumped into the burning rooms and hallway.

The vampire turned around slowly, not wanting to look at the
damage on the opposite side of the hallway.  The flames had only
just licked at the empty corridor, instead they had run along
the roof and had occupied the room directly opposite the one the
fire had started in.  With a whine, the brunette could almost
see the dollar signs adding up with every inch of the charred
wreckage he glanced over. Forehead rubbed, Angel sighed as he
realised that this side was worse than the other.  All the rooms
along the corridor, on the left side to the main stairs, right
side of the hallway, had been burnt into one long rectangle. All
seven rooms length, only stopping where the elevator was
situated.  The buckled and heat warped elevator.  Thankfully,
the fire men had arrived only about ten minutes after the alarm
had first sounded, Angel and the two other men having been
forced back down stairs after a minute of trying to get a grip
on the blaze.

As they had all been ordered outside by loudly yelling firemen,
Angel had managed to run through the kitchen and down into the
sewer before too much sunlight had gotten to him, leaving the
explanations to Riley and Graham.  Once down in the dark, he had
calmly demanded Joyce and Wesley tell him what had happened. He
had listened with not a word to be said, something he had
continued to do until Riley had come to get them once the fire
investigators had left and the fire truck had gone.  Without a
word, he had brushed past them all and had ventured up the
sopping wet stairs, paying no heed to the yellow tape barring
any access beyond it.

Still not a word said, the visibly upset vampire ventured down
to the third floor to see how much damage had been done to the
ceilings of the rooms directly under the disaster area.
Footsteps squelching from the sodden remnants of carpet, Angel
ducked under the bright yellow tape that warned people not to go
beyond, the same tape that was fixed to almost every standing
feature in the burnt rooms and started to stomp heavily down the

water logged staircase.  Dully, he noted that the usually plush
red carpet on the steps would have to be replaced as well.
Walking slowly towards the sound of dripping water coming from
Cordelia and Doyle’s room, the vampire cringed at the thought of
his sorely missed secretary coming back to damaged belongings.

A glance into Christopher’s room and he was somewhat relieved to
see that there was no visible damage to the young man/child’s
room or belongings.  He continued down the corridor and stopped
suddenly as he stared at the ceiling. The paintwork in the
centre of the rooms ceiling had swelled into a giant bubble,
straining to hold the massive amount of water that had been
emptied into the room above.  Thankfully, there wasn't much
directly underneath it.  About a dozen different leaks from
other parts of the ceiling were irritating Angel with their
constant wet 'splooping' as the large drops joined the water
already on the ruined carpet.

Turning slightly, he heard Graham and Riley behind him, still
gossiping like old women about the damage the fire had caused.
Head shaken in an unbelieving gesture, he brushed past the two
ex-soldiers as they sheepishly went to have their turn at
staring in Doyle and Cordelia's room.  Angel was three steps
down the wet stairs when he heard a loud whooshing noise,
closely followed by howls of disgust.  Pausing for only a brief
moment, Angel continued down the stairs as a soaking wet and
covered in paint flakes Riley and Graham skidded past him, both
men anxious to get to their rooms and showers on the second
floor.

It was final then.

He was going to kill both Joyce and Wesley.

He didn't care that Joyce was teary and Wesley was inventing new
body language in an effort to display how sorry he was.
Yep...*both* Joyce and Wesley got to tell Doyle that he was
moving into a new room and they would be the ones to do the
shifting.  They would also be the ones to ring around and get
quotes to fix the damage.

No doubt about it.

He was going to slowly strangle them both, painfully and
forcefully.

First...a drink.

Part Twenty-Three


January 27, 2005

Hyperion Hotel

4.36 pm


As the last of the workmen left the Hyperion, the re-formed L.A.
team breathed a collective sigh of relief. Finally, after almost
a month of constant noise, dust, fumes and workmen milling
around at all hours, the friends could now relax without having
to watch what they said or did.  No more possibilities of
alerting the unsuspecting masses about the everyday presence of
demons, magic and the PTB via loose-lipped builders and
painters.

Burqua thrown off, Doyle rolled the much hated heavy black
material into a ball and threw it in the direction of where he
thought the lobby desk was, missing it completly and managing to
wrap it around an innocent half dead palm tree instead. Laughing
along with Joyce as she described where the offending
head-to-toe covering had landed, the half-demon felt weeks of
tension lift from his  shoulders.  He now no longer had to
pretend that he was a devout Muslim woman, one that was wearing
the black covering and matching gloves in order to preserve her
good name.  From the time the first workman had arrived, the
Irishman had had to cover up, hiding the fact that he was still
blue even though he was apparantly a much lighter shade than he
had been originally.

Joyce watched as Francis tore off the heavy gloves that hid his
aqua hands, noting again that the colour was really quite a
lovely shade.  Gesturing for Angel and Wesley to lead the way,
she allowed Doyle to grasp her elbow and followed them up the
stairs while Riley and Graham took the rear.  Excited, the group
took the newly carpeted stairs to the fourth floor.

Thanking the PTB once again that David Nabbit was one of his
friends, the brunette vampire stood open mouthed in awe of what
the workman had acheived with such a limited worktime.  The room
the fire had started in and the two adjoining rooms had been
transformed into a sound and fireproofed large room.  Perfect
for Wesley and Joyce's continuing magic studies.  After calling
the insurance company, Angel had been devestated to find out
that the policy had lapsed.  The demon had left all financial
arrangements to Cordelia after discovering her knack for always
getting a good deal out the relevant companies.  Apparantly, the
re-newal hadn't been posted in time and after a search in the
bottom drawer of Cordelia's desk, the vampire had found the
insurance re-newal and a few others that were still to be
re-newed such as magazine subscriptions and health insurances.

It was only after Angel had asked for his invested money to be
returned from David's company that he had told the other man
about his money woes, informing David that the money Giles had
left him wouldn't go close to fixing the damage even a quarter
of the way.  With Wesley and Joyce's money, the damage to the
third floor roof might be fixed and the carpet re-done,but
that was about it.  Once again, the billionaire had come through
with the finances.  Angel had felt ashamed that he had to rely
on
another person for money, David explaining that he had nothing
else to spend his money on hadn't made him feel any better.  In
order to make it up to the other man, Wesley had given him one
of the books Spike had hand copied so many months ago.

The newly re-done room had sturdy light beige fire-resistant
carpet, made from wool and treated with numerous chemicals to
make it as stain resistant as possible.  The walls were painted
a solid off white, the same as the ceiling.  It was decorated
with sturdy aluminum trolleys and bookcases, a large set of
cupboards at one end of the room hid the tanks that held the
special foam that the recently installed sprinkler system used
in case of another fire.  Something that everyone was hoping
wouldn't occur again.  The system was designed to be activated
via a switch near the solid metal door that opened into the
hallway.  It had been originally set to activate at the first
whiff of smoke but had been changed to a manual setting after
Wesley had described many of the spells Joyce was currently
learning had small smoke explosions, a downpour of
fire-retardant foam would not be a good thing for a beginner to
experience with each successful spell or incantation.

Angel had agreed to it but had insisted on a timer that would
activate the foam if Wesley didn't stop it from going off in the
space of five minutes.  Taking a last look around the re-done
training room, Riley flicked off the 'occupied' switch that lit
up a light in the hallway over the doorway, shutting the heavy
door behind him.  Upon hearing the muffled clunk of the door
clicking into place, the tall blond punched the lock code into
the numeric keypad mounted on the wall beside the door.  An
identical pad was situated on the other side of the door inside
the room.

The ex-soldier turned to face across the hallway at what hadn't
been up until recently, another row of empty rooms that had once
been occupied by the rescued boys from the Eternal, now just a
long white wall that stopped at the newly restored and working
elevator.  After a long discussion with the building crew, the
L.A. team had discovered that the cost for repairing the damage
to the right side of the hall and the water damaged rooms
underneath was going to be astronomical.  It had been suggested
to just get the floor/third floor roof repaired and not worry
about sectioning the space into individual rooms again.  Upon
telling David how much the repairs were going to cost for the
right side of fourth floor hallway, Angel had been embarrassed
to see the man finally flinch at the estimated cost.  What David

had decided upon had suprised them all.

The wealthy man had decided to follow the workman's advice and
not get the rooms re-sectioned off.  Instead, he had instructed
them to rip out the damaged section of flooring entirely.  In a
totally original thought, he had made the two floors high space
into a gym and exercise area.

Following the others, Riley and Wesley trailed a few steps
behind Graham and Joyce as Angel guided Doyle down the stairs to
the third floor.  Corridor turned into, the group of friends
unlocked the gym door and stepped into the huge room.  So far,
everyone had been banned from entering the space, the
billionaire wanting it to be a suprise for them.  David was
meant to be showing off the newly designed area himself but had
been forced to attend the launch of his latest computer
software, a handheld computer notebook with braille keys and a
voice awareness chip. A travel size of what he had already
designed.  Doyle had recieved his own gifted one that morning
along with instructions for everyone to just go a head and take
a look after the workmen had left.

Graham almost choked in amazment as he stared goggle eyed around
the room.  At one end, there was a complete gym set up.  From
the weight system right up to the latest computerised exercise
bike and stepping machine.  At the opposite end, there was an
area that was a few room lengths in size that had been converted
into a small basketball court, something he was already eager
to try out. One on one with Riley, he really didn't think Angel
and Wesley would be into such things.  With another glance
around, the smaller ex-soldier found himself gazing longingly at
a closed off spa and sauna area, and from the low murmering from
Wes and Angel, he wouldn't be using it first.  A shake of his
head and he realised that David had thought of everything, there
was even two bathrooms tucked away in one corner, both clearly
marked 'man' and 'woman'.  The gym and basketball court was
seperated by a large bare area, something that puzzled the human
until he caught sight of the stack of exercise mats piled up
against one wall of the room.

Running a hand along one off-white wall and he felt the
re-inforced thickness, grinning as he realised that this room
had also been soundproofed and that he was the first to come out
of the shock that seemed to be rendering them all speechless.
Throat cleared, Graham spoke the one word that was on
everybodies minds.

"Wow!"

"Yep...ah..er..mmm!"

"A sauna?  Christ!  I'm gonna have David's baby myself!"

At Doyle's comment, laughter echoed through the large room as
Riley continued to tell the Irishman what the other man had done
to the available space.  As the gathered group seperated and
went to explore the room, the tall ex-soldier led Doyle around
the different pieces of exercise equipment, agreeing to help the
older man start a light exercise routine.

A finger run down the cool metal of one of the new peices of
equipment, the half-demon grinned to himself as Angel still
tried to utter a complete sentence much to Wesley's amusment. As
he listened to Riley explain where each peice was situated,
Doyle concentrated on memorising the number of steps each one
was from the doorway.  He so far refused to use a white cane,
claiming that it wasn't any use until he could go outside again
without the burqua covering.  The half demon had already been
subjected to enough narrow minded abuse from racists because of
the head-to-toe covering, having Angel or one of the ex-soldiers
guiding him had prevented people from taking the verbal abuse to
a physical level, having a white cane would just earmark him as
an easy robbery target.  Doyle now had more respect for Muslim
and Islamic women and how they must cope with such attitudes on
a daily basis.

Arms crossed, Doyle nodded as Riley 'oohhed'  and 'aaahhed' over
the electronic exercise bike, not bothering to point out that
the features were useless if one couldn't see to operate them.
He stood patiently as he heard the numerous bips and beeps as
the taller man fiddled with bike's programs.

"Shit!  This thing can even set up idividual programs for
everyone...the whole room *must* have cost more than the repairs
would have....it *has* to have had?"

"Probably...what's a bet that Angel and Wes are christening the
sauna as we speak?"

"No...no..they were right here?  Whe..oh god! I can't see them
in the room and there is no way that I'm knocking on the door of
the sauna!"

Grimacing at the thought of what the vampire and his consort
could be doing right that moment, Riley stole a glance at his
best friend Graham and Joyce as they giggled together in one
corner of the room.  Graham had loosened up a lot since he had
officially started dating the older woman a few weeks ago. As
the two of them walked towards Riley and Doyle, the blond
soldier blushed furiously as he noted that Joyce was panting.
Somewhere...Wesley was doing the same thing.

"Oooohhh...mmmmm, right there...that's it, FUCK!"

"So?  Time for you two to take a drive then?"

"How long have they been at it or have they just started?"

Inbetween the moans and soft swearing Wesley was uttering
through her, Joyce informed them that the action had only just
started.  One of the down sides to Joyce's talent was that she
spoke as Wesley no matter where either of them were situated in
the hotel, meaning that the older woman knew exactly when the
vampire and his lover were  having 'relations' as Graham so
tactfully described it.  Even after voicing Wesley's screams as
he had been 'claimed' by Angel, no-one had really taken the
side-affect into consideration until much to Riley, Graham and
Doyles amusment, Joyce had vocalised Wesley's entire delight at
reciving a blow job from Angel one day while the four friends
had been relaxing in the library.  It had been a little shocking
to find out just what the two men considered as foreplay,
everyone knew that Angel was the dominant one in the
relationship, they just hadn't realised to what extent. Needless
to say, Angel and Wesley had been more than horrified to realise
just how intrusive the talent was.

Angel and Wesley, in particular, had hastily agreed to either
time their encounters to when Joyce was out of the hotel or give
her time to leave before starting.  Unfortunately, on a few
occasssions, the agreement had been forgotten and it looked like
this was one of those times.  With the four friends sniggering
as Wesley pleaded with the vampire to 'fuck me hard Master',
Joyce allowed Graham to steer her towards the gym doorway with
the intent to drive until she was out of the 'voice radius'.
Something that seemed to be at least a two mile width.

Hearing the moaning woman leave, Doyle continued to laugh as he
heard Wes scream out a sentence begging Angel to slap him.  He
was going to give them no mercy when they decided to show
themselves in the near future.  With Riley still chuckling hard
beside him, he reached a hand out to the taller man and felt
down his arm until he had a firm grasp on the blond's elbow.

"Right then, let's leave the good 'Master' and his obediant
sevant to their carnal pleas....Ahhhh!  Vision!"

"Doyle?  Ok...just breathe...breathe."

As Riley tried to hide the slight shudder that went through him
as the man beside him paled from an aqua to a baby blue, the
taller man gently lowered the half demon onto the stiff new
carpet.  Doyle, jerking in pain, tried to descibe his vision as
best as possible.

"Oooohhh....Bloody Spike again....ah, ouch!  Don't think any new
bits are missing...fffuuuuck...sobbing like usual....he's saying
something this time...I..ouch..I can't make it out.  Damn, that
goddamn awful smell!  Cabbage...rotten bloody stuff....something
different?  Jesus Christ this hurts!  Hang..oooff..on?"

Supporting the stricken man's body so that Doyle didn't hurt
himself against the exercise equipment as he writhed with the
pain from recieving the vision, the blond listened as the light
blue male continued to voice his vision from the PTB.

"Snow...what?  This...ouch..isn't Spike?  Oh my God!  A
woman...she's pregnant...ahhhh, about to drop any day...can't
see her face....SHIT!  I think she just had her first
contraction....gaaaawwwwdd...I can actually bloody well feel
that! Hair....RED HAIR! Willow....I think it's
Willow....ohhhh...here comes another contraction!"

As quickly as it had hit, Doyle felt the vision lift from his
mind, leaving him breathless and with his stomach muscles aching
from feeling the womans contractions.  Wiping at his sweat
covered brow, he struggled to get to his feet as he twisted out
of the ex-soldiers arms, grabbing onto Riley for support after a
few seconds of swaying on his feet.  Head pounding as a result
of the vision, Doyle cursed the PTB once more for being
arseholes.  His visions of the bleached blond vampire had been
striking him daily, occasionally another vision would hit later
the same day featuring someone or something that the PTB wanted
Angel to get involved with but this was the first time that a
vision of Spike had featured someone else.

"Doyle..you alright?  Painkillers, drink, rest?  What do you
want?"

"I'm not a fucking invalid alright?  I'm pretty capable of
getting something by myself....I..sorry."

"Nah...I know that.  Just want something to do rather than
disturb 'Master and Bitch', I know they need to know what you
saw but....for gods sake, I'm still mentally scarred from
springing them last time...let me get you a drink?"

Chuckling at the slight desperation in the ex-soldiers voice,
Doyle nodded and let Riley place his hand upon the taller man's
elbow as he was guided towards the doorway, both men trying
valiently to ignore the images of Wesley and Angel that their
minds were throwing at them.  One hand rubbing at his tender
temple, the Irishman prompted Riley into going down the
elevator rather than the stairs, tired from the brutal assault
on his mind.

Door of the elevator slid across and fastened into place, Riley
pushed the button for the ground floor, taking a step back as
the small lift jerked into life.  Gaze focused upon the arrow
that pointed at each floor as the lift descended, the blond
didn't at first register the odd noise behind him. Lift
'dinging' as it settled upon the ground floor of the Hyperion,
the tall man unlocked the saftey gate and slid it to one side,
his brow only just furrowing as he wondered what the low
continual noise was.

"What the hell is that noise?  Doyle...Doyle?"

Turning to look behind him to where the half demon stood, the
ex-soldier couldn't help but stare as the Irishman slowly spiked
out for the first time since coming back to the hotel.  With a
slight gasp, he realised that the gutteral moaning sound was
coming from deep within the other man.

"Shit!  Doyle....ummm, are you alright?"

"Mmmmmmm...no, no I'm not.  I think....ooohhh, I'm having
another visiiiooooonnnnn.....Fuck!"

Part Twenty-Four

January 27, 2005

Hyperion Hotel

5.15 pm


"Didn't see much, my head was still hurting from the vision just
before it.  Anyway, this second vision of Spike means that the
PTB are now officially shitting their knickers.  We need to find
him NOW!"

"But how...where the hell do we start looking?"

Once again, the library played host to a discussion about one of
the still missing friends.  Angel sat in his favoured wing back
armchair, opposite the couch that held Wesley and Doyle.  Riley,
Graham and Joyce had squished up together on the last remaining
couch that was situated between the armchair and first couch,
opposite the doorway.  This wasn't the first time that Doyle had
gotten two visions in one day, but it was certainly the first
time he had received two featuring the bleached vampire.

"Joyce, are you able to do a location spell, you know, like the
one we tried to do for Xander when he first went missing?"

"She's nowhere near that stage yet...admittedly, she is getting
quite good at spell-casting but to do that will take a lot more
practice than what she's had"

Nodding her agreement with Wesley, the older woman wriggled
slightly, a little uncomfortable from being jammed between the
two ex-soldiers. After the disaster with the fire spell, she had
reluctantly resumed practice after Angel had surprisingly
announced that he had found them an abandoned building to
practice in until the repairs in the hotel were finished.  The
older vampire had been fairly pissed at the damage to the hotel,
but understood that sometimes spells did go wrong, especially
when you were learning. Upon being asked what had gone wrong,
Wesley had been at a loss to explain but hadn't let it deter the
older woman from giving it another try.

It was true, the more spells she was able to perform correctly,
the more her confidence was rising.  So far, Joyce was doing
fairly simple spells, mostly creating little gusts of wind and
getting them to follow her directions, learning to turn light
switches on and off with a simple command.  Yesterday, Wesley
had gotten her to levitate a plastic plate over and over until
she had been able to get it to float for a whole five minutes.
The abandoned abbatoir had echoed with their excited clapping
and this morning, he had gotten her to do it with two heavy
metal plates. Something that she had been able to do with ease.

"He's right, I haven't really done much, but maybe if we
concentrated solely on the detection spell....maybe we could
give it a go?"

Deep in thought, Wesley merely hmmmed at his apprentice,
wondering if she would be able to pull it off with her lack of
experience.  He really didn't see a problem as long as they
practised the words and actions for a few days beforehand. She
had the strength but still lacked the ability to concentrate on
a spell for longer than five minutes at a time. Joyce was a
natural at the art of magic, something that convinced Wesley
that she had been an unidentified Slayer candidate herself.  The
spells that he was getting her to do were simple but they had an
effect of draining the caster's energy severely. Joyce, however,
wasn't in the least bit affected by it.  The ex-Watcher could
vividly remember sleeping for a whole day after levitating two
solid metal plates as he had gotten Joyce to do that morning.
Like he had been able to guess, the older woman had been barely
drained by the after effects of the spell.

"Yes....but after a lot more practice Joyce, I'm not going to
deny that I think you're particularly talented, but you're still
learning...Remember, it took both Tara and Willow to do the
spell.  You still need to learn to concentrate more"

At the sound of Doyle's mug smashing into the locked cabinet
behind Angel's chair, everyone stared open mouthed as the
Irishman got to his feet, hands clenching almost convulsively as
he radiated anger.

"This is FUCKED!  The bloody spell should have been the first
thing to teach Joyce, not some idiot lighting a candle
thing...No offence, Joyce but making plates float in the air is
just bullshit!  What is it that you lot aren't getting?  The PTB
are not giving me daily bloody visions of Spike because the
scenery is pretty....there is something MAJORLY FUCKING WRONG
and it's centred around Spike"

"Doyle, we *know* that and I realise that the visions hurt but
really, we are trying our best here an..."

"No you are fucking *not* trying your best Angel, I want
Cordelia found but I have to just accept that Spike is meant to
be found first and that hurts....it hurts a lot.  Jesus...She
could be duffed up to some one right as we speak, like Willow!
Fucking practice, practice, practice...isn't that what you
always say Wes? Well, how about just stop giving your 'Master'
blowjobs and concentrating on finding Spike?"

Shocked silence descended upon the library as Wesley blushed and
tried to think of an answer, horrified that everybody knew how
he liked his sex.  Angel continued to stare open mouthed at his
friend as he rubbed the last of the tepid coffee that had
splattered over him into his dark charcoal slacks, while Graham,
Riley and Joyce tried to look anywhere but at Wesley and Angel,
all quiet.  It was Doyle who broke the heavy silence, his quiet
voice heavy with weariness.

"I am *not* going to start having twice daily visions of Spike.
You lot don't have to see him each time...Wes, what do you need
to do to make the spell successful, is there anyway that we can
help you and Joyce with this?"

The sound of a throat being cleared came from both couches as
Wesley tried to answer the half-demon with as much dignity as he
could gather.

"Well...ummm.  It *is* a hard spell, hard because it requires an
enormous amount of concentration on the caster's part.  It's
also
dangerous if done incorrectly.  Done right, it will allow those
present to see the subject clearly in a bowl of water via the
caster holding a personal item of the subject's as an anchor.
If
done right, and by a fairly strong person, you can move the
scene
that's being viewed around a bit, like a video camera and would
be able to get a better idea of where they are"

"And done incorrectly?"

"Yes...if done incorrectly then there's a good chance that the
caster's mind will be linked to the water in the bowl until a
counter spell is performed or it wears off...And before you ask,
I don't know of a counterspell.  At the very worst, the caster's
mind will be linked until they die.  Ahhh, if the water happened
to be spilled, then so would that person's mind....What I'm
trying to say is, that if Joyce was unsuccessful, she would be a
vegetable sitting in a seat and requiring 24 hour care while her
conscious mind floated in a bowl"

Graham was horrified at the learning of the consequences of a
spell gone wrong.  Not caring that everybody would be able to
see him, he slipped an arm around Joyce's shoulders, trying to
give her a little support.  He knew that the older woman was
strong and that she wouldn't disappoint the troubled blond
vampire. He wasn't wrong either.

"I'm willing to take the risk.  I'm sure that there horrible
consequences for each of the spells that I'm already doing if
they went wrong...oh Wesley, I *know* that look, just tell
me....Remember, I'm a mother and I will get it out of you
eventually, Doyle..Please sit down?"

Unable to hide a small smile at both Joyce and the sight of
Doyle sitting down next to him again, Wesley leaned over and
gave the half-demon a reassuring pat on the upper arm.

"Actually, the consequences are just as horrible but I didn't
tell you about them because the spells are just too easy for
them to stuff up..Yes, I know...the fire.  Anyway, that one
really didn't go wrong, the result was just a bit stronger than
expected.  *IF* it had gone wrong, Joyce would have more than
likely sucked the flame into her body and died from being burnt
from the inside out....or just had a bad case of heartburn. I'm
really not sure but I do know that if the iron plates had gone
wrong, they would be stuck to your body like a magnet until the
spell wore off.  What? Oh...would usually take few weeks until
they just dropped off one day.....Anything else?"

With a nervous swallow, Joyce asked her tutor if she really
wanted to know the consequences of getting the rose petal and
lily shower wrong, at his suddenly serious face, Joyce quickly
told him that she didn't want to know anyway.  Leaning back into
the strong warm body of the ex-soldier beside her, the older
woman decided that it was time to take the blossoming
relationship to the next level.  They had already gone to the
movies three times, bowling once and to dinner twice, both
enjoying the time together, and not just because it gave the
vampire and his lover a chance to have sex without Joyce's
knowledge.  She just wished the younger man wasn't so shy, it
was becoming hard not to just straddle his well muscled thighs
and suck on his nipples until he moaned.  Head shaken, she
listened as Wesley told Doyle that they would attempt the spell
at the end of the week, in three day's time.

"Three days!  Three more fucking days?  Fine...."

"After we do the spell and it is successful, we rescue Spike and
then we look for the others, Cordelia first, OK?"

"No...no it's not ok.  It's gonna have to be Willow next, not
Cordy...I'm so sure that it was Willow I saw, and if she's got a
baby then she comes next"

Wesley couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it was for Doyle
to see his fiancee slip into a lower place on the rescue list.
Making a decision, he told everyone that he and Joyce would
start
learning the spell in the morning.

"Everyone is tired, take the time to relax and take some time
for themselves alright?"

As everyone got up and stretched their stiff limbs, the group
headed down the steps, towards the kitchen, each one except
Doyle carrying an empty mug or cup.  As they passed the front
desk, the five men paused as Joyce ran to answer the ringing
phone with the usual greeting, noting as her face took on a hard
expression.

It could only mean one thing.

"Yes..yes, right.  I have that....Fine"

Not bothering to say goodbye, Joyce slammed the phone back down
into its cradle as she finished jotting down the address the
teams 'employer' had given her.

"What does that prick want now?"

"Ri...Don't.  Where to, Joyce?"

"Well.  Your to go to No. 243 Houston Avenue, apartment No. 74.
There you will retrieve a carved wooden statue of a wolf.  It's
to be delivered to the Carlton Royal Hotel on Sutcliffe.  Gift
wrapped like usual, just buy one of the gift boxes that you
usually use, Angel.  Umm, it's to be addressed to Andrew
Mortimer, room 313"

"Who?"

"Andrew Mortimer...Wes, why are you asking, you know they are
just fake names?"

"No....No, this one isn't.  You know the boys that we rescued
from Eternal, well remember how they would only answer to their
'prostitute' names for ages, Xander included? Well, Andrew was
Robin's name at Eternal and his surname is Mortimer.  I only
remember that because Rupert was telling me one day that Robin
was still signing documents as Andrew Mortimer in the same week
that Rupert died.  He told me that because apparently Robin had
the most beautiful antiquated style of writing, almost like
copperplate that one of his favoured clients had taught him"

"Well then, I'm guessing that this might just not be a
coincidence then?"

Angel, Wesley, the two ex-soldiers and the still blue Doyle, all
nodded at Joyce as she spoke what was on everybody's minds.

      =============================================

Same time,

Sanity.

Shivering in both excitement and fear, Scott rubbed the last of
the thin lotion into his body.  With particular attention paid
to his long fingers, the tall brunette flinched as a roar echoed
around the room next to him.

Randall was selling him.

He knew that the older man had been having financial
difficulties with running Sanity.  It was glaringly obvious.
Things had gotten worse in the last month, so much so, that all
the Keepers - bar two - had been let go.  The bar staff had had
their shifts cut down to the point that Scott and the other boys
had been the ones cleaning the bar after it closed for business
each night, in addition to helping Fletcher take care of their
service rooms and sleeping cubicles.  As Adam had screamed at
them, Randall could no longer afford to keep them as just
'pampered pets' and they would have to pull their weight if they
didn't want to end up as a round of demon snacks.

So, all ten boys had put in extra time on top of the already
exhausting hours that Randall and Adam demanded of them. Each
one had tried to prove to their bosses that they could do more
things than just entertain demons in the off chance that they
would somehow have a change of duties, Scott included.

Jerking again as another booming roar reached his ears, the
nervous prostitute found himself giving Aiden and Ashley a brief
smile as the identical twins were led past him, into the main
bar and presented for auction. Heart starting to pound faster,
Scott knew that he was next and he couldn't decide whether he
was frightened or excited.  Everyone had known something was up
as soon as Adam had announced that the bar was to be closed,
only three days before.  Suspicion as to what was going to
happen had led to all of them being jumpy and unable to relax
even from the almost unknown idea of having not to work.  Adam
had had to physically stop a few fights between the other boys
before they had gotten out of hand.  Scott, Christopher and
their workmates from the Eternal had clung together, trying to
stay out of harm's way as the newer boys had let the tension get
to them. The brunette couldn't blame the new boys, he felt a bit
sorry for them as they just weren't as experienced as he and the
others were.

Eyes closed for just a minute, Scott felt his stomach clench as
a dry hand touched his bare upper arm.  A deep breath and the
brunette allowed a wide smile to cross his face, not even having
to force himself to do it.  Glancing down at his nude body,
Scott checked that he was presentable and clean before following
the Head Keeper down the hallway that led to the service rooms.

Just entering the main bar, the grinning male obediently cast
his gaze around the crowded bar, desperate to make eye contact
with one of his favourite clients in the hope of prompting them
to buy him.  Stepping up onto the raised box beside Randall, he
ducked his head shyly, his thick dark hair falling across his
brown eyes in a manner that elicited a smattering of applause
through the warm room.  As Randall ran a large hand across his
chest, Scott twisted his upper body to display his liking for
the caress, his smile stayed in place as the older man slowly
reached down to cup Scott's testicles.

Glancing over the crowd again as he felt the older man stroke
him into an erection, Scott knew it was only a matter of minutes
before Spike came into the bar to rescue him.

Spike would buy him.

The vampire had promised Scott that he would find him just
before they had been dragged apart after the funeral.

Feeling the excitement well up inside of him at the prospect of
seeing the bleached vampire again, Scott thrust eagerly into
Randall's hand as the bidding started.

TBC